Underwater rotatable tool equipment

ABSTRACT

The equipment includes a hydraulic underwater manipulatable, unitary tool connected to one end of a flexible conduit and comprising a rigid member having a chamber in communication with the conduit and with a fluid actuated member rotatably mounted at its inner end on the rigid member. Tool-carrier means are mounted on the outer end of the fluid actuated member. Also mounted on the fluid actuated member between the inner and outer ends thereof are a plurality of nozzles for dispensing the fluid from said chamber into the ambient water, the nozzles being canted so as to impart tool actuating movement to the member upon emergence of the pressurized fluid therefrom.

U Umted States Patent 1 1 1111 3,786,875

Merle Jan. 22, 1974 UNDERWATER ROTATABLE TOOL 2,2l8,l30 10/1940 Court..... 15 10512 EQUIPMENT 2,340,738 2 1944 Dilley 175/107 x 2,710,419 6/1955 Whitlow 239/251 X [75] Inventor: Jean Merle, La Tronche, France 3,167,126 1/1965 Reineke et a1. 15/111412 x 3,396,941 8/1968 Crawford 415/503 X [73] Assgnee' fifi ti gg g gfi g fi gsg 3,468,385 9/1969 Penza 173/159 9 (SOGREAH) Grenoble France Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser 1 [22] Filed: Feb. 26, 1969 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sylvester J. Liddy; John J. [21] APPL No: 802,537 Hart; Joe E. Daniels 57 ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data 1 Feb 29 1968 France 685224 The equlpment mcludes a hydraulic underwater manipulatable, unitary tool connected to one end of a flexible conduit and comprising a rigid member having [52] Cl 173/159 Z Q? a chamber in communication with the conduit and [51] Int Cl 1502b 1/00 with a fluid actuated member rotatably mounted at its [58] Fieid DIG inner end on the rigid member. Tool-carrier means are 175/6 OT 239/251, 3 6 mounted on the outer end of the fluid actuated member. Also mounted on the fluid actuated member behe inner and outer ends thereof are a plurality [56] References Cited tween t of nozzles for dlspensmg the flLlld from sald chamber UNITED STATES PATENTS into the ambient water, the nozzles being canted so as 540,218 5/1895 Stanton et al 239/251 to impart tool actuating movement to the member g g upon emergence of the pressurized fluid therefrom. 0 en 2,194,095 3/1940 Noss l5/104.l2 14 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTED A 3.786.875

sum 1 0? v FIG.

FIG. 3 2/ m i INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY PATENTED 3.786.875

INVENTOR. L/fA IV NffiL f A r TORNEY UNDERWATER ROTATABLE TOOL EQUIPMENT This invention relates to equipment for working under water with a rotating tool and has for its general object the provision of simple, practical, dependable equipment for driving a submerged rotating tool.

In accordance with the invention there is provided working apparatus which is normally submerged during its operation and includes a body connected at one end to a conduit through which issupplied water under pressure, a wheel rotatably mounted on the other end of said body and having a central chamber in communication with the said conduit and having at its periphery a plurality of nozzles adapted to discharge tangential jets of water directly into the water so as to drive the said wheel in rotation, and tool-carrier means associated with said wheel. The jet-wheel is.advantageously streamlined so as to avoid fluid friction during its rotation and may be provided with protection hoods.

The equipment normally also includes a waterpumping means for supplying the conduit with water under pressure. This pumping means is constructed to supply water under a pressure corresponding to the sum of the pressure losses in the piping and the pressure that is necessary to provide effective jets for accomplishing the work to be done. It preferably consists of a pump arranged in the open air, and of the centrifugal or piston type in order that there may be obtained the high pressures necessary for the development of large torque or high speeds of rotation. The pump should be capable of drawing-in the water in which the apparatus is sumerged.

The equipment for underwater working provided by the present invention offers the following advantages:

a. The absence of reaction of the tool is an essential characteristic feature which permits of its use by an operator underwater, without support.

I). The wheel-jets may be directed in such manner as to obtain a positioning or lifting thrust of the tool of the desired value.

c. The tool adapts itself automatically to the conditions of use in respect of torque and speed, in its operations from zero speed up to its runaway speed. The torque increases as the speed falls, thereby enabling very high torque to be obtained at zero speed. This characteristic is particularly advantageous when using the tool for tightening screws or other locking operations.

d. It may be noted that the limits of operation under pressure without cavitation become higher as the tool is employed at greater depths, which thus enables large torque or high speeds to be obtained.

Under certain conditions in the use of the tool, for example when used in proximity to muddy water bottoms, it may be expected that the jets which are employed to effect rotation thereof, will stir-up the bottom and cause sufficient cloudiness in the water as to interfere considerably with the users visibility during the course of his operations. In accordance with a further feature of the invention, means are provided to prevent this stirring-up of bottom by the effect of the jets and the resultant muddying of the surrounding water.

It has been found that in the use of the apparatus, the full-jet zone of a nozzle only extends to a distance of six to eight times the smallest dimension of thenozzle, and that beyond this distance the jet becomes rapidly dispersed and then creates only a small amount of turbidity. Under the aforesaid conditions of use of the tool therefore, it has also been found to be of advantage to reduce this fulljet distance as much as possible and various arrangements have been devised in accordance with the invention to accomplish this purpose. One of these arrangements consists in providing the ejection nozzles of the wheel with an outlet section in the form of a narrow slot. In the case where this slot is formed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the wheel, the entire periphery of the wheel can be utilized, with the provision of course, of internal guide-vanes for suitably directing the jets. By the provision of slots of this kind, it is also possible to construct an apparatus of small diameter, using a number of superimposed wheels.

A second arrangement that may be utilized to reduce disturbance of the water bottom, consists in directing the jets upwardly. This may be simply effected by directing the nozzles upwards, inwhich case there is additionally produced a positioning force on the tool which can sometimes be very useful.

A third arrangement consists of placing under the jets a deflecting plate which is capable of acting on the jets at their outlets, so as to damp and distribute their kinetic energy and to direct the remaining energy upwardly in such manner as not to disturb the bottom. This plate may be mounted for free'rotation on the wheel shaft, thereby preventing the creation of any reaction torque on the fixed support of the wheel. With this arrangement, only a small positioning force on the tool is required. The plate may also be rigidly secured to the fixed support of the wheel, for example the water-inlet piping, in which case it will produce a slight reaction torque on such support.

A fourth arrangement may consist in surrounding the jets with a hood in the form of a grating, thereby ensuring the damping of their kinetic energy. Like the deflecting plate, this hood may be mounted freely in rotation, or fixed rigidly to the fixed support of the wheel.

It will be understood that the choice of any of the aforesaid arrangements will be dependent on the conditions of working of the tool, and also that in certain cases, there arrangements can be combined in any appropriate manner.

Various embodiments of the invention are hereinafter described in particular by way of example, and in reading the same reference should be made to the ac companying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a general disgrammatic view of equipment for underwater working constructed in accordance with the invention, and illustrating its method of operation;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the submerged apparatus of this equipment, taken along the line "-11 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a corresponding view in vertical crosssection, taken along the line III-III of FIG. 2-,

FIG. 4 is a torque-speed diagram of this apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a view in elevation of another embodiment, in which the wheel is constructed to provide thin jets;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the wheel shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a view in elevation of another form of wheel capable of providing thin jets;

FIG. 8 is a view in partial horizontal cross-section of a wheel capable of providing a thin jet over itswhole periphery;

FIG. 9 is a view in elevation of a wheel having its jets directed upwards;

FIG. is an elevational view of a wheel provided with a deflecting plate;

FIG. 11 is an elevational view of a wheel fitted with a jet-damping grating; and

FIG. 12 is an elevational view of a wheel provided with a combined deflecting plate and grating for damping the jets.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 to 4 of the drawings and more especially to FIG. 1 which shows one method of practicing the invention, the numeral 10 generally designates a rotating tool to be worked underwater utilizing equipment embodying the invention. This equipment comprises a water pumping means 11 of known construction arranged on any suitable support in the open air such as the boat illustrated, and taking in water from the surrounding body of water 13 through a suction conduit l2..Coupled to the pumping means 11 is a delivery conduit 14 through which water under pressure is supplied to the working apparatus generally designated 15 and which is normally submerged during the work to be performed in the body of water 13.

The working apparatus 15 comprises a tubular, sub- 'stantially rigid body 16 which is associated with and forms part of the conduit 14, which may be partially or wholly flexible. The body 16 may be in the form of .a short pipe that can be utilized as a handle to operate the tool by hand as is shown in FIG. 1, or it may be constructed to be utilized in a mechanized and automatic manner, for example from a control station which may be located either on the surface or under the water.

On the lower extremity of the body 16 is rotatably mounted a driving wheel 17. As is shown in FIG. 3, the connection between such parts may be made by a device 25 forming a thrust bearing and/or a sealing joint capable of ensuring at least partial fluid-tightness between, on the one hand, the tubular body 16 and consequently the piping 14 of which it forms a part, and on the other hand, a tubular hub 26 forming part of the wheel 17.

The wheel 17 comprises a central chamber 18 which is in communication with the lower end of the delivery conduit 14 and with four arms 22 which extend out to the periphery of the wheel and at the outer extremities of which are formed nozzles 19 capable of ejecting at the periphery of the wheel and directly into the water volume 13, water in the form of jets 20. The nozzles 19 are disposed to discharge the jets 20 tangentially to the periphery of the wheel 17 so as to rotatably drive such wheel when the chamber 18, through conduit 14, is supplied with water drawn from the surrounding medium and placed under pressure by the pumping means 11 which may be constituted of a pump of the centrifugal type. Provided on the reaction driving wheel 17 are tool carrier means 21 for holding the tool 10. The wheel 17 thus drives the working tool 10 to effect the underwater operation of the same. The tool 10 may have any suitable form for carrying out any appropriate work, for example, an auger-bit for digging, a drill for piercing, a screwdriver for screwing, etc. As previously mentioned, the centrifugal pump 1 l supplies a pressure corresponding to the sum of the pressure losses in the piping l4 bringing water to the wheel, and the pressure drop necessary for the operation of the jets 20. As is shown in FIG. 1, the piping 14 comprises a closure member or valve 14a located adjacent to the body or handle 16 to enable the operator to adjust the speed of the tool.

As is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the arms 22 are located in a hood 23 forming part of the wheel and rigidly connected to and rotating with the arms 22. The hood 23 is constituted of spaced top and bottom disc-like plates rigidly secured to the wheel hub 26 and fixed in spaced relation by curved guide vanes 24. The vanes 24 are associated with the discharge ends of the arms 22 so as to provide openings 240 which are level with the jets 20 and permit the free evacuation of such jets into the surrounding medium. The nozzles ,l9 producing such jets may be given an axial orientation such as to cause the jets to provide an axial component of force of a desired value on the tool, for example, a thrust on the tool by is an inverse function of the speed, which indicates that the tool will adapt itself automatically to the conditions of working. Thus, at a constant rate of flow of pressured water to the tool, when the resistive torque increases, the speed of the tool will fall and its driving torque c will increase to reach high values at low speeds and even at zero speed.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings, the numeral 171 generally indicates a modified reaction driving wheel for driving a boring tool 10. As in the case of the embodiment of FIGS. l-3, water under pressure is furnished to the wheel from a pump 11 through a conduit 14 of which the body 16 forms a part. Also as in the construction of FIGS. l-3, there is provided inside the piping a thrust bearing 25 for rotatably connecting the wheel with a sealing joint to the piping. The wheel 171 is provided with eight arms 27,

at the outer extremities of which are provided nozzles 19a in the form of thin slots disposed in planes parallel to the axis of the wheel. Thus, the water coming in under pressure through the piping 14 will be ejected in the form of thin jets 20 by the nozzles 19a to effect the rotation of the wheel. Due to their narrow nature, the jets will be dispersed at a short distance from their outlets. Consequently these jets will have very little effect on the water bottom with the result that very little cloudiness will be created in the medium, thereby enabling the tool to work under good conditions of visibility.

In the embodimentshown in FIG. 7 of the drawings the reaction driving wheel 172 is provided with pairs of diametrically opposed nozzles having ejection slots 1% disposed in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the wheel. The nozzles are provided at the extremities of paired arms which are arranged on the wheel in three superimposed stages 28, 28', 28", thus making it possible to obtain an advantageous driving torque with a wheel of small diameter. It will be understood that the slots 19b may be disposed parallelly to the axis of the wheel and may be given inclinations intermediate the said parallel and perpendicular dispositions thereof.

FIG. 8 shows a driving wheel 173 in which the whole periphery is utilized in the form of a thin slot so as to produce a thin circular jet in the plane of the wheel.

This wheel differs from the construction of FIGS. 1 to 3, in that instead of arms forming nozzles the guide vanes between the end plates of the wheel hood are arranged to deliver the air under pressure to the periphery of the wheel. The wheel 173 is shown with its upper end-plate partly removed to expose the guide-vanes 29 with which it is provided to give the desired direction of discharge to the jets which form the thin circular jet.

FIG. 9 shows a further embodiment with two jets formed by two diametrically opposed nozzles 19d which are arranged in the wheel 174 so that such jets are orientated upwardly. By'producing the discharge of the jets in this direction, stirring-up of the water bottoms is avoided and there is created an axial force directed downwardly on the tool, thus giving rise to a positioning or fixing effect on the tool which may be advantageous. It is possible to direct upwardly the continuous peripheral jet discharging from the wheel 173 shown in FIG. 8 to obtain similar effects, by giving the wheel 173 an upwardly directed somewhat concial configuration.

FIG. 10 shows an arrangement in which the driving wheel 175 having arms and nozzles to form two jets 20 suitably orientated in its plane, is provided with a deflecting plate 30 in the form of a cup. The construction and arrangement of the plate 30 is such that the kinetic energy of the jets, is dampened and distributed and the remaining energy is directed upwardly so as not to disturb the water bottom. The positioning force on the tool in the construction of FIG. is smaller than that which is obtained with the arrangement of FIG. 9. The plate 30 may be mounted on a thrust-bearing 31 provided on the tool carrying means of the wheel 175 so that it can rotate freely, independently of the rotation of the wheel.

FIG. 11 shows the driving wheel 175 provided with a hood 32 in the form of a grating. The jets lose the greater part of their kinetic energy while passing through the grating of hood 32, so that they do not appreciably disturb the water bottom. This grating, like the deflector of FIG. 10 may be mounted on a thrust bearing 31 so that it is freely rotatable. It may also as shown in FIG. 11, be mounted in rigidly fixed relation on the handle part 16 of pipe 14 in any suitable fashion as by a clamp 36. When the grating is so fixed to the pipe 14 a slight reaction torque could be produced on the said pipe. It will be understood that the deflector 30 of FIG. 10 may also be fixedly mounted on the associated handle part 16 of the piping 14 in a somewhat similar fashion.

FIG. 12 shows an arrangement in which the kinetic energy absorbing grating 32 of FIG. 11 has been combined with the deflecting plate 30 of FIG. 10. The arrangement of FIG. 12 comprises a deflecting plate portion 33 which is freely rotatably supported by a thrustbearing 34 mounted on the tool carrying means of the wheel 175. This deflecting plate portion 33 is integrally connected at its upper portion with a grating portion 35. As a result of this construction, the remaining energy of the jets which is directed upwardly by the deflecting action of the plate portion 33, is subjected to a further damping effect due to the passage of the said jets through the grating portion 35. The arrangement has been found to be especially advantageous in eliminating substantially all possibility of the jets causing muddiness of the surrounding medium by disturbance of the water bottoms, thereby enabling the tool to work under excellent conditions of visibility.

What is claimed is:

1. A fluid pressure actuated driving means for an underwater power tool comprising:

a body having a pressurized fluid receiving chamber therein;

conduit means for delivering pressurized fluid to said chamber;

a fluid actuated member in communication with said chamber to receive pressurized fluid therefrom; means for exhausting said fluid to impart movement to said member;

- said fluid exhausting means including a plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles communicating from the interior of said member to disperse fluid into the ambient water outside of said member;

said nozzles being canted so as to impart tool actuating movement upon emergence of pressurized fluid therefrom.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the pressurized fluid comprises environmental fluid.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the fluid actuated member in communication with the fluid receiving chamber is mounted for rotational movement.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein the fluid actuating member is provided with pressurized fluid discharging nozzles tangentially mounted to impart rotary movement to said member.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein a portion of the pressurized fluid is emitted in a direction opposite to the direction of tool approachment to the work to thereby urge the tool into work approachment.

6. Equipment for working underwater with a rotating tool comprising, flexible conduit means for supplying fluid under pressure, a submergible, manipulatable, unitary tool connected to one end of said conduit means, said unitary tool comprising rigid means having a pressurized fluid receiving chamber in communication with said conduit means, a fluid actuated member having a central chamber with an inner fluid entry end in communication with said chamber to receive pressurized fluid therefrom and closed at its outer end by an end wall, fluid-tight means rotatably supporting the inner end of said fluid actuated member on said rigid means, tool-carrier means mounted on said outer end wall of said fluid actuated member and rotatably driven by the same, and means for exhausting said fluid to impart rotational movement to said member, said fluid exhausting means including a plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles located between said rotatable supporting means and said tool-carrier means and communicating with the central chamber in said member to disperse fluid therefrom into the ambient water outside of said member, said nozzles being canted so as to impart tool actuating movement to said member upon emergence of pressurized fluid therefrom.

7. Equipment as defined in claim 6, including a plurality of guide members carried by said fluid actuated member so as to be associated with the jets of fluid discharging from said nozzles, said guide members being configured to provide openings level with the discharged jets of fluid and permitting the free evacuation of such jets into the ambient water.

8. Equipment as defined in claim 6, in which the discharge openings in said nozzles are each in the form of an elongated narrow slot having its greatest dimension disposed parallelly to the axis of rotation of said fluid actuated member.

9; Equipment as defined in claim 6, in which the discharge openings in said nozzles are each in the form of an elongated narrow slot having its greatest dimension disposed transversely to the axis of rotation of said fluid actuated member, said discharge openings being constructed and arranged to produce a thin circular jet in a plane disposed at right angles to such axis of rotation.

10. Equipment as defined in claim 6, including a deflecting plate mounted on said fluid actuating member between said fluid dispensing nozzles and said toolcarrier means, said reflecting plate extending beyond the discharge openings in said nozzles and being configured so that the fluid jets discharging through such openings apply a thrust thereon in the direction of said tool-carrier means.

11. Equipment as defined in claim 10, including tional movement relative to said rotatable fluid actuating member.

12. Equipment as defined in claim 6, including a hood mounted on said unitary tool and enclosing the discharge ends of said fluid dispensing nozzles, a portion of said hood in the region of said nozzle ends being grated to permit the fluid jets discharged from said nozzles to pass therethrough, such grated portion of the hood being constructed to cause such jets to lose sufficient of their kenetic energy so that they do not appreciably disturb the water bottom.

13. Equipment as defined in claim 12, including means rotatably supporting said hood on said unitary tool to permit free rotational movement thereof relative to said nozzles.

14. Equipment as defined in claim 12, in which said hood in the region of said nozzle ends has a deflecting section located between said nozzle ends and said toolcarrier means, said grated portion of said hood being located on the other side of said nozzle ends. 

1. A fluid pressure actuated driving means for an underwater power tool comprising: a body having a pressurized fluid receiving chamber therein; conduit means for delivering pressurized fluid to said chamber; a fluid actuated member in communication with said chamber to receive pressurized fluid therefrom; means for exhausting said fluid to impart movement to said member; said fluid exhausting means including a plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles communicating from the interior of said member to disperse fluid into the ambient water outside of said member; said nozzles being canted so as to impart tool actuating movement upon emergence of pressurized fluid therefrom.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the pressurized fluid comprises environmental fluid.
 3. The device of claim 1 wherein the fluid actuated member in communication with the fluid receiving chamber is mounted for rotational movement.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherEin the fluid actuating member is provided with pressurized fluid discharging nozzles tangentially mounted to impart rotary movement to said member.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein a portion of the pressurized fluid is emitted in a direction opposite to the direction of tool approachment to the work to thereby urge the tool into work approachment.
 6. Equipment for working underwater with a rotating tool comprising, flexible conduit means for supplying fluid under pressure, a submergible, manipulatable, unitary tool connected to one end of said conduit means, said unitary tool comprising rigid means having a pressurized fluid receiving chamber in communication with said conduit means, a fluid actuated member having a central chamber with an inner fluid entry end in communication with said chamber to receive pressurized fluid therefrom and closed at its outer end by an end wall, fluid-tight means rotatably supporting the inner end of said fluid actuated member on said rigid means, tool-carrier means mounted on said outer end wall of said fluid actuated member and rotatably driven by the same, and means for exhausting said fluid to impart rotational movement to said member, said fluid exhausting means including a plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles located between said rotatable supporting means and said tool-carrier means and communicating with the central chamber in said member to disperse fluid therefrom into the ambient water outside of said member, said nozzles being canted so as to impart tool actuating movement to said member upon emergence of pressurized fluid therefrom.
 7. Equipment as defined in claim 6, including a plurality of guide members carried by said fluid actuated member so as to be associated with the jets of fluid discharging from said nozzles, said guide members being configured to provide openings level with the discharged jets of fluid and permitting the free evacuation of such jets into the ambient water.
 8. Equipment as defined in claim 6, in which the discharge openings in said nozzles are each in the form of an elongated narrow slot having its greatest dimension disposed parallelly to the axis of rotation of said fluid actuated member.
 9. Equipment as defined in claim 6, in which the discharge openings in said nozzles are each in the form of an elongated narrow slot having its greatest dimension disposed transversely to the axis of rotation of said fluid actuated member, said discharge openings being constructed and arranged to produce a thin circular jet in a plane disposed at right angles to such axis of rotation.
 10. Equipment as defined in claim 6, including a deflecting plate mounted on said fluid actuating member between said fluid dispensing nozzles and said tool-carrier means, said reflecting plate extending beyond the discharge openings in said nozzles and being configured so that the fluid jets discharging through such openings apply a thrust thereon in the direction of said tool-carrier means.
 11. Equipment as defined in claim 10, including means for supporting said deflecting plate for free rotational movement relative to said rotatable fluid actuating member.
 12. Equipment as defined in claim 6, including a hood mounted on said unitary tool and enclosing the discharge ends of said fluid dispensing nozzles, a portion of said hood in the region of said nozzle ends being grated to permit the fluid jets discharged from said nozzles to pass therethrough, such grated portion of the hood being constructed to cause such jets to lose sufficient of their kenetic energy so that they do not appreciably disturb the water bottom.
 13. Equipment as defined in claim 12, including means rotatably supporting said hood on said unitary tool to permit free rotational movement thereof relative to said nozzles.
 14. Equipment as defined in claim 12, in which said hood in the region of said nozzle ends has a deflecting section located between said nozzle ends and said tool-carrier means, said grated portion of said hood being locaTed on the other side of said nozzle ends. 